Female bosses ‘have eye for equality’

Female supervisors put gender equality in the workplace into practice more than their male counterparts, a survey by a labor ministry-affiliated think tank showed Tuesday.

The survey by the Japan Institute for Labor Policy and Training found that 91.7 percent of female department managers at companies with 300 or more employees said they would assess employee performance and promote personnel irrespective of their gender.

The figure compared with 72.7 percent among their male counterparts, according to the survey conducted in October covering around 48,000 people in managerial positions at 12,000 companies with 100 or more regular employees, which received responses from 5,580.

As for companies with 100 to 299 employees, the equivalent figures were 93.6 percent for female respondents and 67.2 percent for their male counterparts.

On assigning business trips and overtime duties, 72.2 percent of female supervisors at companies with 300 or more workers said they would make no distinction based on gender, compared to 53.5 percent of male managers.

An official of the institute said the survey results suggest that women in managerial positions “possess a firm stance not to coddle their subordinates while striving to develop their skills.”